TEHRAN- Hossein Amir Abdollahian, the Iranian foreign minister, has restated the Islamic Republic’s solidarity with the Palestinian people who are afflicted by the Israeli regime’s bestial crimes.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian made the statements in a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Friday, where the top Iranian diplomat was attending an extraordinary meeting of the UN General Assembly on the Gaza war.

“The Islamic Republic has placed consistent support for the Palestinian people’s liberating struggle and resistance with the aim of complete realization of their human rights, among the substantive principles of its foreign policy,” he told the UN chief.

Amir Abdollahian reiterated Tehran’s emphatic condemnation of Tel Aviv’s ongoing slaughter in the Gaza Strip, where the occupying regime has waged a three-week-long assault.

The occupying regime’s lethal strikes against people in Gaza and the West Bank have been made possible by certain nations’ silence as well as the U.S.’s assistance, Amir Abdollahian lamented. 

He urged the international community to fulfill its obligation to back the Palestinian people’s resistance to Israeli aggression by acting swiftly and decisively, with a focus on the UN Security Council.

“Iran backs whatever political solution that would enable immediate cessation of the Israeli regime’s ongoing crimes against humanity and genocide in Gaza, continuous transfer of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory, and prevention of the forced displacement of Gazans,” the foreign minister said.

He issued a warning, saying that as long as the occupying regime continues to commit war crimes against Gaza, there is a great possibility that the conflict spread and new fronts emerge in opposition to the Zionist regime throughout the region.

According to Amir Abdollahian, only a total end to the occupation of Palestine, the repatriation of Palestinian refugees to their homeland, the holding of a referendum involving all of Palestine’s original inhabitants, and ultimately the creation of an independent Palestinian state with the holy city of al-Quds as its capital can bring about a just and sustainable peace in the region.

Guterres, for his part, emphasized Iran’s unique position in the region and called on the Islamic Republic to persist in its diplomatic and constructive political activities.

The UN chief called the present state of humanitarian affairs in Gaza “catastrophic” and urged all parties to facilitate an instantaneous end to hostilities and the delivery of humanitarian supplies to the coastal region.

Meanwhile, Guterres emphasized that the world body is insistent on a political solution to the current state of affairs.

“Armed groups’ finger is on the trigger”

In an interview with NPR on Friday, Amir Abdollahian noted that groups allied with Iran are prepared to strike if Israel’s war against Hamas continues.

He also said that he met “leaders of the resistance in Lebanon and also Palestinian groups” in recent weeks and heard of plans that are “more powerful and deeper than what you’ve witnessed.”

“If this situation continues, and women and children and civilians are still killed in Gaza and the West Bank, anything will be possible,” Abdollahian added. 

“They have enough missiles, rockets and drones and can easily get them from anywhere,” he said, adding, “They have whatever it takes to produce their own weapons and they have their own training and that is why they decided themselves to go ahead with this operation.”

Below are some additional highlights from NPR’s interview with Amir Abdollahian.

On what would cause Iran to support a widening of the war

We don’t really want this conflict to spread out. Actually, we're advising everybody and encouraging them to move toward the stopping of war crimes as soon as possible. But you know, the situation remains complicated. It's difficult for our region to tolerate the fact that 7,000 civilians have been killed as the result of the bombardments of the Israeli regime. This is the image that we're now seeing in the region and because of the continuation of crimes of the Israeli regime, the whole region has been turned into a powder keg.

On whether Iran is urging its allies in the region to exercise restraint

They decide for themselves. At any moment, anything can happen. But we do encourage the U.S. to abandon its absolute total support of the Israeli regime. According to information we have inside the region, both the security and political systems of Israel have totally collapsed. The Israeli citizens have no trust whatsoever in [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and his security and political system. Right now, the only thing functional in Israel is their war machine that is also being run and controlled and managed by the U.S. Of course, if I were to be fair, I'd say Netanyahu also has his own role to play. Because if the attacks and the war stop, then he will fall in less than two days.

About the foreign minister's past comments about launching "pre-emptive action" via members of the "resistance front" and the subsequent barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon

Two weeks ago I visited the region and I met with some leaders of the countries of my region and with the leaders of the resistance in Lebanon and also the Palestinian groups ... What I gathered from the plans that they have – they have their finger on the trigger. You know, much more powerful and deeper than what you've witnessed. Therefore, I believe that if this situation continues and women and children and civilians are still killed in Gaza and the West Bank, anything will be possible ... Therefore they have their own calculations for their own security, and as I've said they decide for themselves.

Regarding a recent comment by a senior Hamas official based in Beirut that, "the implementation [of the attack] was all Hamas, but we do not deny Iran's help and support"

We consider Hamas a Palestinian liberation movement. They are fighting the occupiers and I said the same thing in my speech that I just delivered to the UN General Assembly that they're acting according to international laws. Iran has never approved the killing of civilians, but we do have our political support for the liberation movement so that the occupied territories will be freed. Therefore, our support is only political. Today they have enough missiles, rockets and drones and they can easily get them from anywhere ... Now, currently, they have whatever it takes to produce their own weapons and they have their own training and that is why they decided themselves to go ahead with this operation.

About the hostages Hamas is holding in Gaza

Some days ago, I had a meeting with [the head of the political wing of Hamas], Mr. Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, Qatar. He said that they stand ready to combat the army of Israel for a long period of time, militarily. He said that they can come to an agreement with Israel to keep the civilians away from conflict. It will be like this: We hit their military, they hit our military. It will be just between the military people, leave the civilians out of it and we've been ready to do it for a long time. We even held talks with the Qatari officials on how we can help the release of the non-military or the civilian prisoners. I raised the issue with Mr. Ismail Haniyeh. He said we have no motivation, no reason to keep those non-military prisoners. So, as soon as there's a ceasefire, we're going to identify them, to somehow separate the military from the non-military and release them.

On why he believes it's necessary to wait for a ceasefire to release non-military hostages

You know, [Israel is] killing large numbers of people and at the same time you expect them to release these people, giving them a free hand in killing them and at the same time tying your own hands? This is not logical ... Why are you supporting the continuation of war with this question? Why not try for a ceasefire? ... When the time comes for the release of the military prisoners then they should not forget that there are 6,000 Palestinian prisoners who are held captive by the Israelis. But the important thing now is that they're ready to release those that are not with the military.